Rivers
by Broken Reflection
Summary: This is where it started, and this is where it ends."
1. Saying Good Bye

"This is where it started, and this is where it ends-"

15 year-old Ogino Chihiro stood on the bank of the beautiful river just below her great blue home, and stared into the water at her own reflection. She sang her heart out, her beautiful voice echoing across the crystal blue waters.

"-I come to beg your forgiveness-"

Her voice softened suddenly.

"-And to say goodbye-"

_"Don't look back. Not until you have gone through the tunnel."  
  
"Will I ever see you again?"  
  
"Yes. Very soon. Now go."_

"-Because now I'm looking back to the past, and I'll see your reflection, and that just might be-"

_He lied_, Chihiro thought. _Why did he lie!? He should've just told me! I would've stayed with him! Or...maybe that's just it...He lied to get me to leave...he didn't want me around in the first place...He didn't feel the same way...he didn't love me..._

"-The death of me..."

Chihiro stood in silence, and listened to the rushing of the waters, and closed her eyes as tears began to slowly spill down her cheeks. She wore a white t-shirt with the words _Lost & Found_ written in bold, black, English letters across the chest, and her red and black, plaid school skirt. A sudden wind picked up, causing her waist-length brown hair to flow elegantly behind her, held together in its middle by a glimmering purple tie. The tie that had been made by her friends. And then suddenly the wind just went plain crazy on her, tore the little band from her hair, and tossed it into the river. She gasped.

"NO!" Chihiro screamed. The band was quickly swept downstream and Chihiro raced along the bank after it. She tried to snatch at it when it drifted closer to the shore, but to no avail.

"Come here, you little bastard!" Chihiro cried, swiping at in again. This time, she lost her footing, slipped, and fell into the water. She flailed wildly, trying to stay afloat, but the current was too strong and quickly pulled her under. She tried her best to fight it, to get some air, but she wasn't strong enough. Her lungs burned for air, and soon her impulse to breathe caught up with her, but all she inhaled was water, causing her to choke and suffocate. She was drowning.

But then something grabbed her. It was warm and friendly, even loving, and extremely familiar. Chihiro closed her eyes and allowed the warmth to envelop her, figuring it was death that had come to take her away. Death had finally come to end her pain. Maybe wherever the reaper decided to take her, Haku would be there too. Or maybe...or maybe he'd be off, enjoying life, having forgotten completely about her. No matter. She had, after all, come to the river to say good bye to Haku, to give up hope of ever seeing him again.

_He lied_, Chihiro thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.

When she opened her eyes, she was lying face up on the river bank, staring up at the cloudy blue sky.

"Wha...?" Chihiro slowly sat up, coughing a bit of excess water out of her lungs. She was cold, the water that had drenched her making her skin especially sensitive to the random bouts of wind that seemed to plague the place.

"Chihiro..." A voice from behind whispered

She froze. That voice...it sounded just like-

"No," Chihiro said, shaking her head. It was impossible. Why would he have waited so long to come find her? She was just imagining things. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him.

"Chihiro..." The voice was louder now, closer. She could feel the shadow of a person fall on her.

_It's him! It's him! It's him!_ The thoughts reverberated throughout her mind, but she ignored them and clamped her hands over her ears.

"No. I won't believe it. It's not you. You're not hear. It's all a lie, just like your promise," Chihiro said firmly, hands still clamped tightly over her ears. She could hear a sudden intake of breath, and knew that her statement had wounded him. _Good_. He wasn't real anyways.

"Chihiro, turn around."

" No."

"Chihiro, please...look at me..."

"NO! Go away! Leave me alone! You aren't real! You aren't him! I won't listen!"

"Chihiro! Chihiro, please! Look at me! Don't do this! Please..._please_..." Two arms enveloped her into a tight embrace and Chihiro suddenly just broke down. Tears spilled from her face and she closed her eyes and turned to sob into the chest of the long-awaited Haku.

"Y-you...YOU! You lied! You said 'soon'! How could you do that to me!? Five years! FIVE YEARS, Haku! Why!? _Why_!?" Chihiro began to hit his arms and chest, letting loose 5 years worth of longing, anger, and a broken heart. Haku bore it all silently, and waited until she had calmed before gently beginning to stroke her head, neck, and back with one of his hands.

"I know...I'm sorry...I _did_ lie. I'm sorry, Chihiro, I'm so sorry..." Tears began to drift down Haku's own cheeks as he said this. It had taken so much longer than either of them ever would have guessed, and those 5 years had been nothing but torment to Haku. He had thought of Chihiro the entire time, never letting his thoughts stray to any other subject. And it was all because of the despicable hag, Yubaba.

Yubaba was one clever witch, he'd give her that. Right after Chihiro had left, he had gone straight to Yubaba to tell him he was leaving and quitting his apprenticeship. Yubaba had merely laughed and whipped his contract out of thin air. Then she had pointed to the smallest print he'd ever seen, at the very bottom of his contract, and read aloud by memory, "If he/she who has signed this paper decides to quit, they will be assigned to an extra 5 years of labor so as to make up for however much work was initially intended to occur". Oh, how that horrid bitch had laughed and laughed and laughed, and taunted him, and filled his mind with the fear that Chihiro would forget him before he could find her. It had been horrible. But now, here he was, and she hadn't forgotten, in fact it seemed as if her memories of the Spirit World haunted her every day.

"Why...? Why did you do this to me?" Chihiro whispered. Haku pulled her back slightly, and tilted her chin up so she could look him in the face. Chihiro opened her eyes slowly and gasped at the sight before her.

"Because I love you, and I had to finish 5 years of work before Yubaba would set me free...but mainly because I love you," Haku said, smiling softly, tears still spilling slowly from his emerald green eyes. Those eyes she could utterly lose herself in.

He still wore the work outfit from Aburaya, but he had changed. He was taller, and his chest and shoulder were slightly broader, and that his calves were slightly more muscular. His face, his eyes, and his hair, however, were still virtually the same. His face was obviously aged, but it was easy to recognize, and his eyes and hair hadn't changed one bit.

"You...You're so cute..." Chihiro murmured in awe, reaching a hand up to gently wipe the tears from his eyes. Haku blushed at her comments and touch, but smiled nonetheless. Chihiro smiled back, now tears of happiness spilling down her face, as she practically knocked Haku over with another hug. They had their arms wrapped around one another, Haku lying on his back with Chihiro's head against the nape of his neck, and the rest of her body atop his. (No wrong images, please! )

"And you're so beautiful," Haku whispered into her ear. After a few minutes of lying together in this position, Chihiro stood and helped Haku to his feet.

"So, 5 years of keeping me in waiting and I bet you didn't even bring me a present!" Chihiro said, turning away in false anger. Haku smiled softly and pulled something from the inside of his shirt.

"No. But I did manage to get this..." He dangled the purple hair tie before her face. Chihiro cried out in joy and snatched the tied from his hand. She quickly pulled her hair in a tight ponytail and turned to face him. So many unseen emotions were exchanged between them, no words were needed.

"Haku...I'm sorry I said...I'm sorry I called you a liar...And I'm sorry for all of those bitter thoughts I had...And I'm sorry for doubting you...And-"Haku pressed a finger to Chihiro's lips, hushing her.

"I'm sorry, too. We both had our doubts; we're both sorry, but we're together now. That's all that matters," Haku whispered. Chihiro nodded her head silently as he leaned forward to kiss her. After a few seconds, he pulled away, ending the kiss.

"The song..." Chihiro whispered suddenly. She looked towards the rushing river, and then back at Haku. "'This is where it started, and this is where it ends'...We met at your river, and now...and now it's ending at another river..."

"'Ending'?" Haku echoed in confusion. Chihiro smiled.

"It's called symbolism...or...maybe it's irony...I don't quite remember, but all I know is that our adventure, our shared pain, started at a river-started because of a river-, and now...now it's ending because of a river...even though we still have one hell of an adventure before us," Chihiro explained. There was a moment of silence.

"...That almost seems too deep for someone like you..." Haku said. Chihiro frowned.

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped. Haku smiled, and leaned forward to plant another kiss on her lips.

"Nothing at all. Where to now?" Haku asked, lifting her into his arms. Chihiro pondered this for a minute, and then a strong breeze stung her skin, reminding her of the fact that she was drenched.

"Let's go home. I have a very romantic idea of the two of us falling asleep together," Chihiro said. A blush burned Haku's face. "What's your problem?"

Suddenly, it struck her as of to what she had implied, and she blushed slightly too before laughing.

"Having naughty thoughts, I see!" Chihirp snickered. Haku turned an even brighter shade of red.

"N-n-no! It's not me! You're the one who said it!" Haku accused, a tinge of anger in his voice. Chihiro stifled another bout of laughter.

"Well, to put it in less perverted terms, all I want is to change clothes, and then go straight to sleep...just in your arms...with you next to me...not having done anything before hand..." Chihiro said. "Better?"

"Sounds like a plan."

END

**OMFG! I feel so retarded having written this thing 2-3 years after the movie came out! God. I'm a dumbass. But that's ok. Sorry if the peeps seemed out of character, but that's just how things go in my mind. And to those of you who can't accept the fact that Haku might have a little bit of a pervert's mind-! Well...screw you! He's a man...water-spirit...thing...that looks like a man! So...ok...my point is that men have dirty thoughts...and so do women...but not as often as men! Ok...enough rambling. Please review! It does me an arse-load of good to know that people actually give a damn!**

**Thankies! **

**El Lainera**


	2. Jokes and Pillows: Inanimate objects, or...

"Are you serious!?" Chihiro cried. Haku nodded his head, his face completely honest. "I can't believe she pulled such a mean trick like that on you!"

"For me, it's not that hard to believe. Yubaba is one wily old woman, and I'm sure the same thing is on everyone else's contract who works for the bitch," Haku said. He had just finished telling Chihiro the story of how Yubaba had kept him for an extra 5 years through the fine print on his contract. They sat in the rather extravagant and expansive bedroom of Chihiro, which included a queen-sized western style bed, a desk with a shiny computer, and even a fire place, which they had lit and were now seated in front of. Chihiro's parents were out of town for five days, which left the house all to them.

"That's so stupid! You should've just left anyways," Chihiro griped. Haku laughed softly as he stared into the fire.

"I tried, but it was like whenever I tried to fly off, something invisible grabbed me a yanked me back. You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to get away. Some of the workers even started making bets on how far I could get before I was dragged back to Aburaya," Haku said bitterly. Now it was Chihiro's turn to laugh. Suddenly, she stopped and quickly turned to face him.

"Wait a minute...if...if you're here, in this world, and you're a spirit...are you going to start to disappear? Like when I first arrived in the Spirit World?" Chihiro asked fearfully. Haku turned to her somberly.

"Yes. I'm going to disappear, Chihiro. I just wanted to get to see you one last time before I was gone forever," Haku said impassively. Chihiro looked mortified.

"No! NO! you can't leave me! You just got here! And-and-and...!" Chihiro could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes again, and she stifled a sob. Then, she heard laughter. Haku was _laughing_ at her. "Wha-what's wrong with you!? This isn't funny! It's HORRIBLE!"

"Oh, I'm not laughing at that," Haku replied nonchalantly. "It's the fact that you fell for it."

"Fell for it..." Chihiro echoed. "You mean...you mean you were..._joking_?"

Haku nodded his head, now laughing uncontrollably. Chihiro scowled and stood up and walked over to the bed. She grabbed the largest, heaviest, and hardest pillow(yeah, I know pillows aren't hard. Leave me alone) she could find, walked back over to the hysterically laughing Haku, and whacked him as hard as she could.

"Ow!" Haku cried, shielding his head with his hands. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with _me_!?" Chihiro cried, whacking him again. "Nothing, except for the fact that the person who I haven't seen in 5 years has made a joke about leaving me again, knowing full well that I am an emotional basket case!"

"Hey, don't use insanity as an excuse," Haku said, jumping up and away from Chihiro's merciless pillow beating. "And I'm sorry! I figured you'd just catch on faster!"

"Yeah, well not all of us find certain things as stupidly entertaining as you do, Haku! Maybe you were laughing the entire time I was drowning in that damn river! Or perhaps you think my feelings are a joke, too!?" Chihiro hissed. Haku froze, and looked at her, a frown on his face and pain in his eyes.

"Chihiro, I would never-"Haku began, but she cut him off.

"Just be _quiet_!" Chihiro screamed, hurling the pillow at his face. This surprised him, and instead of dodging the pillow hit him full force in the face and knocked him over. Chihiro was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt at her actions. He had only been joking! He had even apologized, too. And now she had just practically killed him with a pillow. _Real mature, Chihiro. Now he's going to leave your sorry ass and go back to the Spirit World. He's probably better of with Yubaba than me,_ Chihiro thought to herself.

"H-haku?" Chihiro asked in an unsteady voice. He slowly sat up, tossing the pillow to the side and clutching his face. "I-I'm so sorry! I...I didn't mean...I didn't mean to..."

Haku ignored her and pulled his hands away from his face, and that's when Chihiro saw the tiny trickle of blood coming from his nose.

"Ah! You're bleeding!" Chihiro cried, rushing over to him. "Hold on! Let me go get a cloth!"

Chihiro ran into the bathroom, grabbed a cloth, wet it, and rushed back into her room to see something that almost broke her heart completely. Haku was crying. Tears were streaming down his face as he stared into space, completely ignoring the blood dripping from his nose.

"Haku..." Chihiro whispered softly, walking over to the river spirit. She kneeled down next to him, and looking into his face for a few seconds. He refused to meet her gaze. She sighed and began to dab at his nose. She had screwed it up, she knew it. It was probably over. He was probably thinking of a way to escape right now. When the bleeding stopped, Chihiro returned the cloth to the bathroom, and walked back into her bedroom to find Haku standing up, staring straight at her. Wordlessly, he walked over to her, picked her up, and carried her over to the bed.

"H-haku! W-what are you...?" Chihiro blushed as Haku set her onto the bed and climbed in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. A few excess tears dripped onto her own cheeks, and then he spoke:

"I've hurt you so much, and for that I am sorry. Don't feel like everything's your fault, because it's not. It's _mine_. _All mine_," Haku said softly, tightening his grip ever so slightly. "Please forgive me."

"Only if you forgive me for saying all of those horrible things, first," Chihiro said.

"I knew you didn't mean it...but it still hurt...but...I forgive you..." Haku said.

"And I forgive you, too," Chihiro whispered, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms around him in return.

"Then everything's just as it should be," Haku said. Chihiro nodded her head and yawned, sleep beginning to overtake her.

END

**OMFG! Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so happy! XD The reason Chihiro has such an extravagant room is because I think her family's bloody rich, and so therefore they bought an expensive house, and expensive houses have weird stuff like fireplaces in every room! Chihiro, the pillow murderer!**

**Now, I get to reply to each of you guy's comments! Woot! Par-tay!**

**Erkith: I argue with myself a lot. I'm very self-contradicting. I'm glad you like my plot! I was hoping it wasn't too...well...unoriginal...and thank you for agreeing on the symbolism! I had a friend on some message board read it and he thought the symbolism was shit! Well, screw him! Ha HA!**

**Fukari: Haku X Chihiro m.f.a! Thanks for the review!**

**tamhas owl: I will! Unfortunately, I'm a major ass procrastinator, which means chapter updates will be somewhat random...but, thanks for reading!**

**DreamCherry66: Glad you enjoyed it!**

**OMFG! You guys absolutely RULE! Haha! This was originally going to be a one-shot...but I'm thinking about adding one or two more chapters...Why? Because I CAN! Guhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuuuuuuuuuu! Oh, damnit...I just realized I don't have a disclaimer! EEP! Well, I'll fix that:  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own Spirited Away. Mr. Hayao Miyazaki does. And he's one effing awesome mofo. Buy movie, watch movie, praise movie, praise Haku. Do as I say. No. I am not using subliminal messages...**

**Uhm...yeah...guess that's about it...hope you guys like it. Next chapter up soon, unless I have an arse-load of homework or something. Thanks again, guys!**

**El Lainera**


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